Turpen’s Top Seven: Why Being a Lawyer is the Greatest Job in the World
By Mike Turpen

7. You have theopportunity to associate (hang out) with other lawyers. Lawyers are generally fun, good-natured and optimistic people. They have a sense of humor and can laugh at themselves. Abraham Lincoln, during the famous Lincoln – Douglas debates, answered Douglas’ charges of being two-faced by asking the audience, “Do you think, if I had two faces, I’d be wearing this one in front of you today?”

6 You have the _opportunity to be a meaningful _member of the Mike Turpen 4F Club: Faith, Family, Friends and (of course) Finances. Only the first three “Fs” really matter, however to support your faith, take care of your family and have fun with your friends, it takes money.

5. You have the _opportunity to be around some _politics. Politics is not a spectator sport. In my political life I went to all 77 counties – store to store, door to door, meet and greet, grip and grin – because my leadership style was to listen, learn and lead. Each person is like a book, and there are 3.2 million “books” in the state of Oklahoma. Take the time to read them. Find out what makes them tick.

4. You have the opportunity to _see both sides of every issue. Lawyers are open-minded people that can see and advocate, if necessary, every side of the most important issues of our times. This goes back to high school debate. I love the adversary _system — dynamic _confrontation in the courtroom. Robert Traver, the author of Anatomy of a Murder once said, “The only difference between an alley fight and a debate is the law.”

3. You have the _opportunity to embrace risk. Courage is being scared but saddling up anyway. I can’t think of a greater risk (and/or reward) than standing up and breaking the silence of an Oklahoma courtroom with the sound of your voice. That’s the excitement of being a lawyer.
2. You have the _opportunity to not just make a living, but also to make a _difference. The greatest privilege in life is to help other people endure by uplifting their hearts.

An older African-American gentleman, E.M. Gillory from Muskogee, told me the most important story I’ve ever heard. A young child goes to an old man and says, “Oh wise man, I wrote my name in the sand on the beach, but when the tide came in, my name was washed away. I carved my name in the bark of a tree, but when the tree grew, my name was gone. I chiseled my name in stone on the side of a mountain, but when the wind blew it eroded my name away. Oh wise man, what really matter in this life? Give me a reason for living and dying.” The old wise man told the child, “Inscribe your name in the hearts of your fellow man and you shall live and endure forever and ever and ever.”

We leave our name in the hearts of people by how we treat each other, how we help each other, how we respect each other. That’s why we passionately advocate _for the people whom we have the honor_and opportunity to represent.